WELCOME to the second season of Fantasy Football League. I am really pleased to announce that
moving into this second season the competition has been adopted by The Football League Paper. It will
cost you only £5 to enter and that is for the whole of the 2024/25 season. The FFL 2024/25 entry deadline will be Noon on Saturday, August 31, 2024. Fantasy Football League is based on the very successful Fantasy Non-League competition that I have run in The Non-League Paper for over 20 years.
TWO WAYS TO PAY:
ENTER & PAY ONLINE:
Pay £5 to enter and and then you will get the link to the online form to enter.ENTER AND PAY VIA CHEQUE/DOWNLOAD FORM
You will be able to view your teams’ progress throughout the season in The Football League Paper and on my website with weekly updates on either Saturday evening or Sunday morning.
My website can be found at https://iwfantasyfootball.yolasite.com/
This season I am introducing the EARLY ENTRY BONUS into the game. Those of you who play the Fantasy NonLeague competition will be very familiar with this concept.
So, how does the Early Entry Bonus work? Well, if you are brave enough to enter the competition before NOON on Saturday, August 10, 2024 you will receive an EARLY ENTRY BONUS of 500 points. The game starts on that Saturday and all players start accumulating points from that Saturday, August 10 2024 whether they have entered before the start of the season or just before the deadline on August 31, 2024. Hence the 500pts if you enter before a ball is kicked.
I still get emails and calls from Fantasy Non-League players commenting on the fact that we allow people to enter the competition nearly four weeks into the season. The reason for this is that The FLP does not appear until Sunday August 11, 2024. Ideally, it would be better to start the competition before the season starts but if we did, we would miss a lot of possible players. My normal answer to everyone that asks this question is everyone can either put their entry in before the season starts or before the deadline at the end of August 2024.
In fact, I know that many players in Fantasy Non-League enter at least two teams – one before the season starts and one before the August 31 deadline when they have had a chance to study the form of the first three weeks or so of the season.
There will be Manager of the Month awards through the season. The top three teams and the bottom team each month will receive a cash prize. In total, there will be eight Manager of the Month awards with the last one being April 2025. The first Manager of the Month will be September 2024.
At the End of the Season there will be cash prizes for the top three places and a prize which is personally my favourite, the prize for finishing in bottom spot, so why not enter two teams – one to win it and one to lose it. I have discovered in Fantasy Non-League that it is in fact harder to finish bottom than it is to finish in first place.
THE RULES FOR FFL 2024/25
(Please read these very carefully).
You will need to choose four teams from each of the six leagues, which will give you a total of 24 teams. You must also pick 5 FFL JOKER TEAMS from the 24 teams you have already picked. Those five teams will receive double points throughout the season. That will include all bonuses awarded during the season. It will also include the End of Season bonuses (this only applies if you keep your FFL Jokers for the whole of the season). Remember the FFL Joker teams must be teams you have already picked.
Also, if you wish you can pick five substitute teams, but these five teams must be on your FFL 2024/25 Entry Form. (More on the substitutes later in this season’s rules).
POINTS ALLOCATION, IN ALL THE SIX LEAGUES LEAGUE & CUP GAMES
Home win = 10pts + goals
Away win = 20pts + goals
Home Draw = 2pt + goals
Away Draw = 4pts + goals
Home Defeat = -10pts
Away defeats = -5pts
Every goal scored = 1pt (This counts if your team wins, draws or loses). Every goal conceded (Win & Defeat only) -1pt.
Goal Bonus Points = 5pts (This is awarded if your teams score 4 or more goals).
Clean Sheet Bonus = 5pts (This is awarded for both wins and 0-0 draws). Concede 4 goals = -5pts (This does not apply to drawn games).
(Two-legged ties count as two sep- arate games. Cup replays that go to penalties. The penalties are only used to decide the winner. No points are awarded for the penalties scored).
BONUS POINTS FOR REACHING VARIOUS ROUNDS IN EACH CUP COMPETITION
For reaching the FA Cup 1st round proper and each round beyond = 25pts. (This only applies for the National League, National North & South).
For reaching the FA Cup 3rd round proper and each round beyond = 25pts. (This applies to all the leagues expect the Championship)
For reaching the Quarter-finals and each round beyond in all the cups that are involved in the competition which are listed below = 25pts. (This applies to all six leagues in the FFL 2024/25 Season).
LEAGUE LEADERS & BOTTOM CLUB BONUS
At the end of each month up to and including April 2025, the top three teams leading each of the six leagues will be awarded 30pts, 15pts & 7pts respectively. The bottom three teams of the six leagues will be awarded -30pts,
-15pts & -7pts respectively. (Please remember, and this is important, these bonus points will only count towards the main FFL season total and not the Manager of the Month points).
MANAGER OF THE MONTH BONUS POINTS
Each month the top three best perform- ing teams for each individual month in each of the six leagues will be awarded 30pts, 15pts & 7pts respectively. The bottom worst performing three teams each month will receive -30pts, -15pts & -7pts respectively (These bonus points only count in the Manager of the Month calculations).
PLAY-OFF GAMES
The actual Play-Off games themselves will be awarded points as if they were league games. The Play-Off Final winners will be awarded 50pts for gaining promotion. (These points will be awarded at the end of the season).
END OF SEASON BONUS POINTS
(These points will be awarded at the end of the FFL Season in May 2025). All League Champions will receive 250pts for winning their respective leagues. Second place will get 125pts and third place will receive 60pts.
The bottom team in each league at the end of the season’s FFL will be awarded -250pts. Second from bottom -125pts and third from bottom -60pts. Cup Winners will receive 250pts for the FA Cup & League Cup and 150pts for the other Cups.
Play-Off Winners will receive 50pts.
Remember, if your FFL Joker team get these bonuses they will be doubled. For example, a league winner picked in August 2024 at the start of the FFL Season will win you 500pts. Substituted teams will be awarded half the End of Season bonus points & the full Play-Off Winners bonus.
The following Leagues and Cup competitions will be involved in this season’s Fantasy Football League:
THE CHAMPIONSHIP
FA Cup & EFL Cup
LEAGUE ONE
FA Cup, EFL Cup & EFL Trophy
LEAGUE TWO
FA Cup, EFL Cup & EFL Trophy
NATIONAL LEAGUE
FA Cup and FA Trophy
NATIONAL NORTH
FA Cup and FA Trophy
NATIONAL SOUTH
FA Cup and FA Trophy
USE OF SUBSTITUTIONS
As stated above, you can select five substitutes on your FFL 2024/25 Entry Form and out of those five substitutes you can use all five substitutes. There will be only one substitution window and that will be during the month of December 2024 with your selected changes taking effect from January 1, 2025. Details on how to use your substi- tutions will be released nearer the time during the month of November 2024. Please also note you can change your FFL Joker Teams on January 1, 2025 if you so wish, but this will count as one of your Substitutions.
Ian White, Fantasy Football League
